Bookholder



W. v. 00ML.

BOOKHOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY e. I'92I.

42.8, T2575 PatentedSept. i2, N22,

51A/vendo@ Patented Sept. l2, 1922.

WILLIAM V. COATE, OF GREENVILLE, OHIO.

BOOKI-IOLDER.

Application le. July 6, 1921. Serial No. 482,825.

To azZZ 'whom t may concern.'

Ec it known that l, llfiLLniir V. Con'rn, citizen of the United States, residing at Greenville, in the county of larke and ffltate of Uhio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lookholders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved book holder and has as one of its principal objects to provide a device of this charater which may be placed upon a des i, table., or the like and a book disposed in open position thereon at a convenient angle for reading purposes.

The invention has as another object to provide a device of this character v-,rherein the leaves of the book will be engaged and held substantially flat but wherein said leaves mayv be readily turned without manipulation of the holder or without removing the book from the holder.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a book holder having base portions which may be folded one against the other when the holder is not in u e so that the device will occupy a minimum amount of space.

And the invention has as a still further object to provide a book holder which may be produced at low cost and which, when folded, may be carried in the pocket, or if desired, .may be slipped between the leaves of a book without likelihood of injury thereto.

Other and incidental. objects will appear hereinafter.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a perspective view of my improved book holder illustrating the manner of use thereof, a book being shown in dotted lines upon the holder',

Figure 2 is a view of the device folded, and

Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating a slightly different embodiment of the invention.

In carrying the invention into effect, I employ an inverted U-shaped body member preferably formed from resilient wire of suitable gage and comprising side posts lO jointed by a connecting portion providing a horizontally disposed supporting` rail 1l sustained by the side posts. Carried by the side posts l0 are substantially U-shaped base members formed of wire similar to the wire employed in forming the body member and said base members comprise front and rear uprights 19/ and 13 respectively joined by surface engaging portions 14. As clearly illustrated in the drawing, these base vportions are swingingly connected to the side posts l() adjacent the lower ends of said posts by helical coils 14V, the free ends'of the uprights 13 being wrapped snugly about said posts to form the coils,l and, as will be particularly noted, the ends of the posts are disposed to lie in the adjacent angles of the base members so that said posts will not come 1n contact with the surface upon which the holder rests to possibly scratch or mar said surface. Further, in this regard, it will be observed that the ends of the uprights are wrapped about the posts preferablyv three and one-half turns and that the turns are inclined. rllhus, in the event the coils become loose on the posts through frequent manipulation, the base portions may be rotated upon the posts to ride the coils upwardly thereon and thus obtain a fresh purchase upon the posts, when the lower end portions of the posts may be clipped off. Accordingly, the entire efficiency of the device may be greatly prolonged.

ln Figure l of the drawing, l have clearly shown the manner of using my improved book holder. As will be seen, the base members are swung to project forwardly in spaced parallel relation from the side posts l0 of the body member so as to cause the surface engaging portions 14 to rest upon a desk, table or the like. The device is then ready for use and a book may, in the manner shown in dotted lines in this figure, be disposed thereon. As clearly brought out in the drawing, the book is supported near its upper margin by the rail 11 so as to lie in an inclined position convenient for reading, while the forward uprights 12 engage the book at its lower edge and will prevent the book from slipping forwardly. Further, these uprights will engage the lower edges of the leaves of the book adjacent the outer corners thereof for holding the book open as well as for holding the leaves substantially flat. `When it is desired to turn the leaves, it is simply necessary to grasp each leaf at its upper corner and lift slightly, when the leaf will bow at its lower corner and slide over the adjacent upright 12. The leaf mayv indicatedy in Figure 2, so as lto lie in a plane with said body member extending between the side posts 10. I thus provide a highly eficient device and one which, when not in use, will not be in the way.

In Figure 3 of the drawing, I have shown a slightly different embodiment of the in-` vention wherein the forward uprights l2 of the base portions carry page engaging arms 15v pivotally mounted thereon to be swung toward or away from the pages of a book upon the holder. rIhese arms are also formed of suitable resilient wire and are substantially U-shaped in outline. As will be observed, the inner side portions of the arms are coiled about the uprights 12 fo-r pivotally connecting the arms thereto while the outer or page engaging sides of the arms have their terminals bent inwardly to avoid mutilation of the pages. Further, these arms are mounted upon the uprights in inverted position. Otherwise, this modified form is identical with the preferred construction.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A book holder including a supporting rail having side posts, basemembers swingingly connected to the side posts to project forwardly therefrom, said base members having forward uprights, and page engaging arms carried by said uprights to swing thereon.

2. A book holder including an inverted U-shaped body member providing a horizontal supporting rail having depending side posts, and substantially lU-shaped base mem-y bers comprising surface engaging portions having front and rear uprights, the rear uprights having a portion of their length coiled about the side posts pivotally connecting the base members thereto and the forward uprights being engageable with the forward edge of a book resting against the supporting rail.

3. A book holder including a supporting rail having side posts, base members swing- 

